Easter in Delaware

We were in Delaware for Easter this year.  It felt odd to not be at our own church, but we were glad to get to spend the holiday with the Sanders clan and to attend church with Aunt Connie and Uncle Mike. 



























Even though we were in a different location, the Easter Bunny was still able to track us down and deliver goodies to the kids.  Nana had also made a basket for them, so there was chocolate a-plenty. 

 After church, Olivia wasted no time changing back into her PJs, which she proceeded to wear for the rest of the day.  Nana had cooked a delicious dinner, which we enjoyed.  The kids were so excited that Uncle Gary, Aunt Katie, Addie, and Gavin were able to join us for dinner.  This was the first time that we had seen Gavin, and the pictures aren't lying- he is adorable.  I was sure to get as much baby love as he'd let me get.

 Even though we don't get to see this set of cousins often, the kids had no trouble playing together.  They threw the baseball with Poppy, played hide-and-seek, and had a good time in general. It was an all-around great day.

Delaware 2018

We made our annual trek to Delaware to visit Poppy and Nana over spring break.  Our preferred route is to drive up along the eastern shore of Virginia over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.  The visitor's center on the bridge was closed this year, so no stop there.  But, the little Italian restaurant that we like so much was open and we were more then happy to stop there for a late lunch.

 As always, a large amount of time was taken up playing with the dogs.  The kids sure do love Bear, Duke, and Penny.

Geese have taken up residence in the pond behind Poppy and Nana's house.  Poppy likes them and puts feed out for them each day.  The kids were more than happy to help him lay out the feed.

We also were able to visit the Qs while in Delaware.  We had a nice visit followed by ice cream at Bylers. 

This spring break was definitely a good one.  We so enjoy seeing and spending time with our family.  As a bonus, we were able to squeeze in a few day trips (even though the weather was very uncooperative). 

Church Easter Activities

Every year I look forward to Easter and to the various church activities that lead up to Easter.  From watching the kids march into the sanctuary with palm branches on Palm Sunday to taking communion at the Maundy Thursday service, these traditions all hold a special place in my heart.  And, of course, we cannot forget the children's Easter production and egg hunt. The Blast kids did such an amazing job this year.  There were two parts to the performance.  One was a fairy tale-like play and the other part was a pre-recorded puppet show. It was different but really neat.  Owen played the narrator of the "play" portion of the performance while Olivia had a part in the puppet show.  At the end, all of the kids sang a chorus of "He Lives" and wished us a happy Easter. 

 Following the performance, the kids got to participate in the church egg hunt.  This is Olivia's last year to hunt, and she made the most of it.  It is so funny to watch the kids find the eggs.  They can totally clear the lawn of all eggs in a matter of five minutes.  If only they'd clean their rooms with the same enthusiasm. 

Owen is 10

We recently celebrated Owen's 10th birthday.  We are so proud of the young man he is becoming.  Here are some facts about Owen at 10:
1.  He is a joker and likes to pull pranks at every opportunity.  He also likes to hide and jump out to try and scare you when you enter a room.
2.  Math is his favorite subject in school.
3.   When he has free time, he likes to play his video games.  We have to watch him on this because he will play them all day if given the chance.
4.  He loves salsa and he always wants to go to the Mexican restaurant just so he can get some.
5.  He is very loving to his family.






We celebrated Owen's birthday with a chocolate cake from Holt's.  He also received nerf toys and an Itunes gift card from Brian and I.  Since this was his 10th birthday we told him that we would do something special.  He chose to go to Dave and Busters and invite a friend.  This was our first time here, and we had a blast.  We ate at the restaurant on premises and then let the kids play games for two hours or so.  They had a great time.  We sure do love our little buddy.

Smoky Mountain Field Trip Day #3

On our last day of Olivia's field trip we made a stop at Rock City before heading home.  It was St. Patrick's Day and they were having a special event (ShamROCK City)  to celebrate.  There were people playing Irish music, dancing a jig, and playing the bagpipes.  It was much busier on this day than it had been on my previous two trips.  We walked the grounds admiring the beautiful rock formations.  When we reached the waterfall we were delighted to find that water had been dyed green in honor of the holiday.  The views from the top were great.  Two hours and a picnic lunch later we were on the road heading home.  It was a fun and action-packed field trip for sure.

Smoky Mountains Field Trip Day #2

Day 2 of Olivia's WINGS field trip began with a tour of the Titanic Museum.  The museum itself is shaped like the Titanic.  Since we were a large group, we had a guide lead us through.  I really enjoyed this.  Our guide was really knowledgeable and made the experience informative for us.  There were some interactive elements of the tour like sticking your hand in the 28 degree waters that the passengers would have faced.  The experiences really showed the kids the gravity of the situation that those on board were facing.










Before entering, everyone was given a card with the name and some information about an actual person who was aboard the Titanic.  Olivia was a first class passenger named Lucy, Countess of Rothes.  I was a third class passenger named Sarah Roth.  At the end of the tour, you could see what was the fate of your passenger.  Both Olivia and I survived.

After a quick lunch at Cici's Pizza, we headed to Gatlinburg.  We were given the choice of going to Ober Gatlinburg or of exploring the town on our own.  Most of our group chose to take the gondola up the mountain to Ober Gatlinburg.  Once on the mountain we had a lot of activities to choose from, and Liv and I did almost all of them.  We did the Alpine Slide, took the scenic chair lift to the top of the mountain for a view of the Smokies, did the mountain coaster, and went ice skating.  Most of the kids had never been ice skating before, so there was a bit of falling at first.  They kept with it though, and were looking pretty good by the end. 

After leaving Gatlinburg, we returned to our hotel for 30 whole minutes before meeting back up to go to Dolly's Dixie Stampede.  We enjoyed some really good bluegrass music during the pre-show and then headed in for the main event.  Like the previous night's show, the audience was divided into teams to cheer for.  The teams here were the north and the south and they sat us on the side of the north.  We cheered for the north as we were asked to do, but no one was sad when the south won the contest.  After the show we returned to the hotel completely exhausted.